Richard Silliboy, interviewed by Anu Dudley, September 21, 2003, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine.

Silliboy speaks about moving from Gouldsboro, Maine, to Aroostook County; his mother Mary; tribal affiliation with the Presque Isle Micmacs; working at the Basket Bank Store in Presque Isle, Maine; making and selling Native American baskets; serving as the Economic Development Coordinator for the Basket Bank; problems finding wood and supplies for basketry; basketmakers Marlene, Robina, Donald and Mary Senapass, and Abe and Sarah Lunn; costs of baskets; difficulties with exposure and marketing; shows at the malls in New Hampshire and Maine, the Common Ground Fair, and festivals; joining the Basket Alliance; opening a store in Houlton, Maine, after applying for a loan from Finance Authority; purchasing baskets from Nova Scotia and Quebec; basketmakers Steven Aize, Peter Baldwin, Ruby Skillinger, Jeremy Fray, Peter Neptune, and Molly Nepture Parker; selling baskets at the Common Ground Fair; the development of the Native Arts tent; colleagues Betsy Hart and Martha Motley; serving as co-coordinator of the steering committee; his mother, Mary Silliboy, selling baskets to Fog’s Hardware Store; exposure for artists; earning money doing traditional Native American crafts; bringing workshops to Maine’s Native communities; the dying off of basketmaking elders; increases in the number of young basketmakers; starting language workshops on Native reservations in Maine; moving baskets; baskets as conversation pieces in the home; participation in the Common Ground Fair; and cultural continuance of Native Americans.